The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-03-11

start ON . pilgrimage from which We can
never como back. We will have seen for
IL last time the evening star, and watch
cd the last summer cloud, and felt the
breath Of the spring winds for the last
time Hands Of loved ones may b
stretched out TO hold ~ back, but they
can not-go wo must. About Ill other
exits and changes We may tribe, but not
about this. Etupendous moment Of
life-quitting. Oh, when the greet
tides Of eternity arise about rs,
and MI the soul and surround 1t,
and sweep II out toward rapture or
woe, ah, that will be ''the swelling Of Jor-
DAM" I know people sometimes talk
very merrily sH5out the departure from
this life. am very sorry to hear It But
men do make fun Of the passage from one
world to another. Byron jOked q great
deal about IT, but when it came he shiv-
cred with horror. Many IN inndcl has
scofIed At the idea of fearing . future
world, but lying upon his pillow in tho
last hour his teeth have chartered with
terror / saw, in Westminst ter Abbey, an
epitaph which . poet ordered to be put
upon his tomb:
Life Is . Jest,
And all things show it.
Thought 50 once,
But now know il.
thought how inapt that, in place Of
sepulchre. men should try their witticisms.
A great German having rejected Christ,
in his last moment said: s1;ive me light,
give me light" Oh, we may be smart
with our witticism about the last hour;
but when 1t comes and the tides are rising,
and the surf is beating, and the winds are
hav linz will MI
find for himself that it is 1.-THE swelling Of
Jordan!" Our natural courage won't hold
out then. However familiar we NAV have
been with scenes Of mortality, however
much we may have screwed our courage
up, we want something more than natural
resources.
When the northeast wind blows of
from the sea of death, it will put
out all earthly lights. The lamp Of
the gospel, God-lighted, is the only
lamp that can stand in that blast. The
weakest arm holding that shall not be
COMPOUNDED; the strongest one rejoicing
that shall tumble and die. When the Jor-
dan rises in its wrath. the first dash of its
wave will swamp them forever. We feel
how sad it is for man to attempt this Fife
without religion. We see what a dol.ful
thing it is for man to go down into the
m isiortunes of life without Christian
solace; but if that be so, how much more
terrible when that man comes face to face
with the sosmnities of the last hour! Oh,
if in the bright sunshine of health and
prosperity man felt the need of some
thing better, how will he feel when the
shadows of the last hour gather above his
pillow! If, in the warmth of worldly
prosperity, he was sometimes dismayed,
how will he feel when the last chill creeps
over hims If while things were compare
lively smooth he was disquieted. what
will he do in the agonies Of dissolution!
II. in the land OF peace in which thou trusted.
they wearied thee, what wilt thou do amid the
swelling Of Jordan?
Oh. rejoice 20 know that so many of
Gods children have gone through that
pass without shudder. Some one said
to dying Christian:
''Isn't it hard for you to get out Of this
world!"
'-Oh, no. he says. sit is easy dying; it
is blessed dying; it is glorious DIVING
And then he pointed to a clock on the
wall and said:
1.-THE last two hours in which I have been
dying have had more JOY than all the
years of my life"
general came into the hospital after
the battle, and there were many seriously
wounded. and there was one man dying,
and the General said:
All, my dear fellow, you seem very
much wounded. am afraid you are not
going to get WELL"
"No,n said the soldier, 81 am not going
to get well, but feel very happy"
Oh. have seen them, and so have you.
go out of this life without tear on their
cheek. There was weeping all around
the room. but no weeping in the bed; the
heeks were dry. They were not throw 4
into darkness; they were lifted up. We
saw the tides rising around them, and the
swelling of the wave. 1t washed them of
from the cares and tolls of life; it washed
them on toward the beach of heaven.
They waved to US a farewell kiss as they
stood on deck, and floatcd down further
and further, waited by gales from heaven,
until they We're lost to our sight-mor-
tally having tscome immortality
LIES duty done. as sinks the clay,
Light from its load the spirit flies:
While Heaven and earth combine to say.
How blest the righteous when he dies.
What high consolation to you that your
departed friends were not submerged in
the swelling of Jordan! The lsraeiites
were just as thoroughly alive on the west.
ern banks of the Jordan as they had been
on the eastern banks of the Jordan; and
our departed Christian friends have onl-
crossed over-not sick, not dead, no: ex
hausted. not eXtinguished, not blotted out
tut with healthier respiration and stout
er pulses, and keener eyesight, and better
prospects, crossed over, their sins, their
physical and mental disquiet, all left
clear this side, an eternaliy flowing. i'm
passable obstacle between them and all
human and satanic pursuit. Crossed over
Oh. shake hands of congratu!ation with
all the bereaved in the considera. ion tta,
our departed Christian friends are safe!
Why was there. years ago, so much Joy
| in certain circles in New York when PEG
pie heard from their friends who were or
board the City of Brusselss 1t was
thought that vessel had gone to the bot
| tom of the sea; and when the friends on
| this side heard that the steamer had ar
rived safely in Liverpool. had we not the
! right to congratulate the people in New
+; York that their friends had got safely
! across! And is it not right this morning
that congratulate you that your departed
friends are safe on the shore Of heaveni
| Would you have them back again
| Would You have those old parents bach
again. You know how hard it was some
times or them to get their breath in the
stifiei atmosphere of the summer.
would you have them back in this
summer! Didn't they use their BRAN
Wong enough. Would you have your chill